Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: YOWERI Museveni, the 81-yearold president of Uganda, is seeking a seventh term in office on January 15. He has led for nearly four decades the East African nation, the vast majority of whose citizens have never known any other leader.
Born to Christian nomadic pastoralists, Museveni secured admission to an elite secondary school and went on to study political science at a university in neighbouring Tanzania. There, he founded a militant movement that eventually helped force out President Idi Amin, with Milton Obote taking over as Uganda’s leader in 1980. Obote was toppled in a coup in 1985. The following year, the military wing of Museveni’s National Resistance Movement overthrew Tito Okello, who had become president.
Museveni has won all six presidential elections he has contested. Muzeveni’s main rival in the current presidential election is Bobi Wine, a 43-year-old pop star.
Political analysts say that while victory for Museveni is all but certain, the road ahead is clouded by uncertainty, with the President starting to show signs of frailty.